Saturday Morning with Jack Tame

Yumi Zouma is the gold standard for ethereal dream-pop.  But after a decade together, the Kiwi quartet has decided to push the envelope, taking strides into a heavier rock sound.   Their fifth studio album, ‘No Love Lost To Kindness’, is a turning point, filled with themes of confrontation, disillusionment, risk, and honesty.  The band’s guitarists, Josh Burgess and Charlie Ryder, joined Jack Tame to discuss the album, its creation, and the decade they’ve been creating together.   Ryder told Tame that while there’s a big juxtaposition between this album and their previous body of work, it was a natural progression.  “We listen to a lot of music of all genres, that includes like, rock music, heavy stuff, and at the time, I think, yeah, it made sense for us to go in more of a grungier, harder direction.”  “After releasing five albums, and I guess like, 100 songs, you can’t just keep doing the same thing over and over again.”  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Kevin Milne’s dreams to buy a gorgeous house has been stymied by something unexpected: age.   Photos of what quickly became his dream home popped up this week, but it became a disagreement between him and his wife Linda, with her banning him from even thinking about buying it.  But why? Kevin joined Jack Tame to explain what’s made the house so unobtainable.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

New Zealand was host to two contrasting acts this week, playing out at the opposite ends of the North Island.  On Thursday, Auckland’s Laneway Festival was held at Western Springs, whilst in Wellington, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds played two shows – one Thursday and one Friday.   Chris Schulz was at both events, and joined Jack Tame to share his thoughts.    LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Such a Perfect Family by Nalini Singh   A woman buried. A woman broken. A woman crashed. A woman burned. And the man who knew them all.  Love at first sight, a whirlwind Vegas wedding, a fairy-tale romance. For seventy-nine days, Tavish Advani has been the happiest man in the world—until his new life turns to ash, his wealthy in-laws’ house going up in a fiery explosion. His badly injured wife lies in a coma, her family all but annihilated.  Tavish thought he left the sins of his Los Angeles life behind, but it’s not so easy to leave behind an investigation into the deaths of several high-profile women—all of whom he professed to love. Tragedy and death follow him no matter where he goes . . . but this time, he knows he’s innocent.  Desperately trying to clear his name as the authorities zero in, he begins his own investigation into the fire—and learns that his wife’s picture-perfect family may have been nothing but a meticulously constructed mirage. The truth is much darker than anything Tavish could’ve imagined . . .     The First Law of the Bush by Geoff Parkes   It’s a beautiful day to be alive, Bill Dickerson thought, seconds before he tumbled from the viaduct onto the jagged rocks below . . .  His awful death made national news. But still, one year on, Bill’s widow Carol has received no explanation about what happened. Was it suicide? An accident? Maybe murder?  So Carol hires lawyer Ryan Bradley in her fight for justice. Ryan has just returned to the remote town of Nashville after ten years away, so he’s in no position to turn down work.  Except the case seems hopeless from the start. Bill’s employer is denying responsibility, Carol’s friends are shunning her, and the only witnesses – co-workers Gav Coates and Wati Reynolds – can shed no light on the tragic fall. Even Senior Sergeant ‘Stinger’ Nettle is too busy turning a blind eye to Wati’s illegal schemes to dig deeper into the death.  But in small towns, nothing is quite what it seems. And for one Nashville resident the wrong question will come at a deadly price . . .    LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

"If you’re planning a road-trip in the South Island in the coming months, tack on a scenic foray with the Mid-Canterbury heartland. Easily reached within an hour from Christchurch, it’s an understated, uncrowded region that handsomely rewards the eager explorer, headlined by its spectacular scenic high country and blissful sense of escapism. Fanning out from Ashburton and bounded by the silvery braids of the Rakaia and Rangitata rivers, Mid-Canterbury spans the extremes, from pancake-flat plains to serrated, sky-piercing peaks. The mountains rise up to meet you remarkably quickly, after driving west from Ashburton. Here’s a round-up of some sure-fire favourites to add to your leisurely road- trip." Read Mike's full article here. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What is the happiest job in New Zealand?  Research undertaken in 2025 looked at how people across different jobs and sectors rated their wellbeing. They targeted people who were “mid-career” – around 40 years old.  Dr Dougal Sutherland joined Jack Tame to delve into the findings and see what factors make for the happiest careers. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On the Saturday Morning with Jack Tame Full Show Podcast for Saturday 7 February 2026, Kiwi dream-pop quartet Yumi Zouma joined Jack to discuss a decade together and their creative shift for album No. 5, No Love Lost to Kindness.  Jack finds the Epstein files illuminating.  Two contrasting musical events took place at opposing ends of the North Island this week and music reviewer Chris Schulz went to both.  Clinical psychologist Dougal Sutherland reveals the happiest jobs in New Zealand.  Plus Nici Wickes is not letting us overlook the classics with a deliciously moist Blueberry Muffin recipe.  Get the Saturday Morning with Jack Tame Full Show Podcast every Saturday on iHeartRadio, or wherever you get your podcasts.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

During a rather aggressive storm in springtime, our ancient tunnel house showed it was time to get a new one. That was our Christmas project.  Some of our tomatoes survived but there was still lots of space for other plants and ideas, and Kings Seeds sent a catalogue to my inbox just at the right moment!   February specials and Brassicas plus a great number of beautiful plants in many colours (and for a reasonable amount of money). Let's try something out!  Snail Vine  An exotic, heirloom vine grown for its highly perfumed, spiralled flowers resembling curled snail shells. Ideal for growing up fences, trellis, and pergola, or sow in containers with a grow cone or obelisk for support. Fabulous for providing fragrance to outdoor spaces. They germinate within 2 weeks in summer, love warm conditions and develop fast in full sun.  Great for our warmer areas in New Zealand, but even in the cooler regions they usually become an “Annual”. Try a few seeds as soon as you get them and keep some for next spring as a back-up.  Echinops Blue Globe A fabulous textural plant for floral work and in the garden where they add a metallic-like accent. Easy to grow, the versatile plant produces striking steel-blue, globe-shaped flowers. Excellent as an everlasting flower as they retain their colour and form well when dried. Good to start it in sizeable containers to manage the moisture in summer – you can start them in early autumn, so they’ll flower in early spring;  Now – look at those amazing blue colours!  Echinacea Lustre  Look at this!  A popular range of large-flowered, ornamental echinacea in a vibrant colour range. Also known as coneflowers, they make wonderful cut flowers with their distinctive, daisy-like blooms and long vase life. They flower the first year from seed.  The echinops and echinacea are both great options for drought prone/dry areas and being perennials, they really are good value in your garden and loved by pollinators.  Stratify: Chilling seeds in the fridge for 2-3 weeks prior to sowing will promote germination by breaking seed dormancy.  Cauliflower Green Macerata  A lime-green cauliflower with brilliant flavour and a nice change from the “typical” white curds. A vigorous plant, the leafy frame protects the green curds which mature to around 1 to 1.5 kg in weight.  Do not overcook them, to retain the bright-green colour.  Like many cauliflowers they are great plants to start in Autumn, so a little bit of patience is needed… But what comes out of your efforts will be quite wonderful!  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hunter's Gewürztraminer 2025, Marlborough RRP from $25.99     The Wine:   A fragrant wine led by scents of ripe pomaceous fruits and white pepper, orange and mandarin peel, some yellow citrus then apple and spice. Delicious on the palate with flavours that keep repeating. The spice or herb layer increases carried by the alcohol and acid line. Vibrant and youthful, a wine that will find its happy place by late 2026/early 2027, then great drinking through 2029.      The vintage:    A very warm December followed by a cool, temperate summer (January-February) allowed for slow, even ripening.  Above-average, high-volume yields, a bumper crop or a return to "normal" after smaller harvests. Harvest was well-paced, smooth, and dry, allowing growers to pick at optimal maturity. This translates to very good vintage and excellent for some.      The Food match:   For cheese fans and what my wife and I call ‘French take-outs’:  Washed-Rind ("Stinky") Cheeses: Munster, or Époisses.   Creamy/Soft-Ripened Cheeses: Historically dubbed The King of Cheeses – a raw cow's milk cheese, called Brie de Meaux, or just go with a Camembert   Blue Cheeses: Roquefort or Gorgonzola.   The dish: a Moroccan tagine or slow cooked savoury stew. The chef chooses the protein. It’s all about rich and bold earthy flavours, exotic spices such a cumin, nutmeg, ginger, turmeric, allspice, cinnamon, and cardamom.    LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

New models this week from Anthropic and OpenAI   A new Opus and a new Codex – the Agentic Coding war is only continuing to heat up. Both are now incredibly capable and are giving technical users who can't write code superpowers.       Anthropic's new Legal plugin wiped $50 billion from the stock market   The Co-Work plugin for Claude can review legal documents, flag risks, and track compliance. Legal tech stocks took a hammering. Harvey, a legal focused startup, does exactly the same thing as this plugin, and is/was valued at $8 billion. There are a lot of AI startups that are "wrappers", basically adding some UI or workflow on top of these models. We're going to see a lot of startups die as the big AI platforms start to offer specialist tools.      The EU says TikTok is too addictive for kids   But how do you solve it? The Commission has some ideas, including adding screentime breaks (so the user's app disabled for a set number of minutes?), changing its algorithms (showing less interesting content?), and disabling the "infinite scroll" (so forcing a user to go back to a menu to pick their next video?).    LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

DMV   A comedy set in the place everyone dreads going most —the Department of Motor Vehicles— where employees are making minimum wage dealing with customers who are annoyed before they even walk in the door (TVNZ+).       Lord of the Flies   From Adolescence writer Jack Thorne comes this bold reimagining of the classic dystopian novel. Stranded on a tropical island after a deadly plane crash, a gang of schoolboys descend into anarchy (TVNZ+, from February 8th).    LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I’m generally sceptical of conspiracy theories.    Call me old fashioned, but I’m pretty sure we landed on the moon. I think 9/11 was al-Qaeda, not an inside job. I think climate change is real.    But I’ve got to admit, I’ve been captivated by the information released in the Epstein files. And while I still don’t think it reveals a coordinated paedophile ring, the trove of information released so far has been far more enlightening than I ever anticipated it would be. Truthfully, I thought it would be a nothing burger. I was wrong.    It’s not that the files necessarily prove greater illegality. Many people thought the dump would reveal a client list of the global elite: a black book of politicians, billionaires, CEOs, celebs, and royalty who’d committed the most appalling crimes and would be rounded up and brought to justice.   So far at least, it doesn’t have that. But it has illuminated a web of connections and relationships among the wealthy, connected, and powerful that we might never have known existed. And it is quite extraordinary to see the ways in which power and acquaintances have been leveraged.   There are several stand out takeaways for me.   First of all, the sheer volume of information. Thousands of videos, hundreds of thousands of photos, millions of messages. Was there anything this guy didn’t document? And there are still millions of documents that haven't yet been released.    Secondly, the impact the files are having in countries outside the United States. Although they name heaps of big powerful figures in the US, many of whom are closely connected to the President or the Clintons, the blow-back has arguably been curiously stronger in other parts of the World.    Overnight, the Crown Princess of Norway has publicly apologised to the King and Queen after her close relationship with Epstein was illuminated. As we go to air, Police in the UK are searching the properties of Peter Mandelson, the man who until a few weeks ago was the UK's Ambassador to the US, and who's one of many people who after initially talking down their relationship with Epstein, has been proven to have been far closer to the man, to have visited him and stayed with him well after this initial convictions. Ariane de Rothschild, the CEO of the Rothschild Swiss bank, previously said she only met Epstein on bank business, but the files suggest a much chummier relationship, Epstein inviting her to stay at his apartment.    My third takeaway is that even though nothing illegal is alleged on their behalf, some of the high-profile names associated with Epstein have forever tarnished their reputations through their enduring relationships with him.   Bill Gates continuing to communicate with Epstein for years. Noam Chomsky tendering advice to Epstein on surviving a media storm relating to his criminal charges. And of course, the greatest fall from grace outside of Epstein himself, the former Prince Andrew, disgraced, stripped of his titles, and with no realistic path back to respect.    The files may not have proved a great conspiracy, but they have been incredibly illuminating. And as I've digested the reporting and analysis, the communications of incredibly powerful people who never imagined their messages would be publicised, I've been reminded of a salient quote.   "The measure of a person's character is what they do when no one is watching." See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It Was Just An Accident   In Iran, a man bumps into the man he believes to be his former torturer. However, faced with this person who fiercely denies having been his tormentor, doubt sets in.    Melania   Twenty days before the 2025 presidential inauguration, Melania Trump navigates the complexities of the White House transition as she prepares for the role of first lady once again.      LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Sometimes we forget about trusted old favourites in favour of the latest trend or new fancy ingredient, but can you remember your first blueberry muffin? The joy and juiciness of each bite, the fact that they’re very likely better on day two, and that buttering them will change your life. Make the most of late season blueberries this weekend.    Makes 12 regular muffins       Ingredients  2/3 cup white sugar + extra for topping   ¼ cup lightly packed brown sugar   2 medium eggs   ¾ cup plain yogurt   120g melted butter or oil   1 ¾ cups plain flour   1 generous tsp baking powder   ½ tsp sea salt   ½ tsp baking soda   1 tbsp lemon zest,    1 tsp vanilla extract   1 punnet fresh or frozen blueberries      Method  Preheat oven to 180C. Line 12 standard muffin tins with liners or baking paper or grease well with oil.   Beat sugars with eggs in a large bowl and then whisk in yoghurt and butter.   Add flour, baking powder, salt and baking soda and stir to combine. Don’t over mix it. Fold in blueberries.   Divide among prepared muffin holes. Sprinkle each muffin with a decent sprinkle of sugar and bake until golden brown and baked through, 17–20 minutes.   Let cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes before easing each muffin from the tin.     Nici's note: These freeze well.      LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The 2026 Winter Olympic Games are just one week away.   New Zealand’s presence at the Games is growing, with 17 athletes set to compete this year.  And though he won’t be competing this year, two-time Winter Olympic medallist Nico Porteous knows how they’ll be feeling.  At age 16, he won the Bronze at the 2018 Games in PyeongChang, and four years later, took the Gold in Beijing.   But last year he decided to shift focus, stepping away from the Olympic-level competition.  Porteous had been in high performance and competitive environments since he was ten years old, and felt it was time for something new.  “We’re lucky that in our sport, competition isn’t everything,” he told Jack Tame.  “With the support of sponsors, we can move into different areas such as, y’know, making films and doing one off projects, so that areas has always really excited me and inspired me.”  And with two Olympic medals under his belt, a raft of other titles, and even a New Zealand Order of Merit to his name, he felt he had achieved what he wanted to on the competition side of things.   “I felt like it was the right time to step aside.”   But for those heading to the Olympics this year, Porteous does have some advice.  “Just worry about yourself and worry about your own performance,” he said.  “There’s a lot of external stuff that can sort of come into play, so I think the biggest skill that I took out of it and learned in the whole process was to just worry about what you’re doing and your process.”  “Be driven by your own process, rather than someone else’s ambitions or goals for you.”  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Privacy has been a big topic of discussion this week, and it got Kevin Milne and his wife Linda thinking about the old Yellow and White Pages.  There was a time where every household had their own copy, and while they haven’t been discontinued entirely, they are a lot less common nowadays.  But one notable year, some workers at Yellow Pages pulled a Banksy, and the doodle wasn’t noticed until much too late.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The fifth studio album from NZ indie-rock quartet Yumi Zouma, ‘No Love Lost To Kindness’ is a turning point for the band.  In this album they made a deliberate effort to shed the soft-focus production of their previous works in favour of a heavy and more emotionally exposed feeling  ‘No Love Lost To Kindness’ was recorded in Mexico City, and tackles themes of confrontation, diagnosis, disillusionment, risk, and honesty.   Chris Schulz joined Jack Tame to share his thoughts on the album.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

"For Kiwis heading to Asia or onwards to Europe, Singapore can feel like the gateway to the world. But rather than just transiting at Changi Airport, breaking up long-haul flights with a restorative layover in the Lion City is one of my tried and trusted ways to minimise the insidious scourge of travel fatigue. For Kiwi families travelling with children, I strongly recommend threading a stopover on Sentosa Island into your long-haul plans to combat jetlag. It’s like a holiday within a holiday, a destination within a destination. Some of the youngest members of my wider family recently enjoyed a wondrous time on Sentosa – and it far exceeded their expectations." Read Mike's full article. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Dear Debbie by Frieda McFadden   Sometimes, enough is enough…  Debbie Mullen is losing it. For years, she has compiled all of her best advice into her column, Dear Debbie, where the wives of New England come for sympathy and neighborly advice. Through her work, Debbie has heard from countless women who are ignored, belittled, or even abused by their husbands. And Debbie does her best to guide them in the right direction.  Or at least, she did.  These days, Debbie’s life seems to be spiraling out of control. She just lost her job. Something strange is happening with her teenage daughters. And her husband is keeping secrets, according to the tracking app she installed on his phone. Now, Debbie’s done being the bigger person. She’s done being reasonable and practical. It’s time to take her own advice.  And now it’s time for payback against all the people in her life who deserve it the most.     Meet the Newmans by Jennifer Niven   For two decades, Del and Dinah Newman and their sons, Guy and Shep, have ruled television as America’s Favorite Family. Millions of viewers tune in every week to watch them play flawless, black-and-white versions of themselves. But now it’s 1964, and the Newmans’ idealized apple-pie perfection suddenly feels woefully out of touch. Ratings are in free fall, as are the Newmans themselves. Del is keeping an explosive secret from his wife, and Dinah is slowly going numb—literally. Steady, stable Guy is hiding the truth about his love life, and the charmed luck of rock ‘n roll idol Shep may have finally run out.  Then Del—the creative motor behind the show—is in a mysterious car accident, Dinah decides to take matters into her own hands. She hires Juliet Dunne, an outspoken, impassioned young reporter, to help her write the final episode. But Dinah and Juliet have wildly different perspectives about what it means to be a woman, and a family, in 1964. Can the Newmans hold it together to change television history? Or will they be canceled before they ever have the chance?  Funny, big-hearted, and deeply moving, Meet the Newmans is a rich family story about the dual lives we lead. Because even when our lives aren’t televised weekly, we all have a behind-the-scenes.    LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We’re all guilty of buying things we don’t need sometimes, but there are ways to curb that behaviour and make things a little bit more sustainable.  Kate Hall has a list of things she’s not buying in 2026, paper towels, seasonal decor, and fast fashion just a few, but instead of giving them up entirely, she’s figured out a few alternative options.  She joined Jack Tame to discuss her full list of swaps.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.